A recuperating Tom Lockyer has revealed that he collapsed at Wembley when that part of his heart was beating four times faster than it should.
After leading Luton out for the Championship play-off final, the defender’s afternoon ended in the eighth minute when he lost consciousness and fell to the turf.
After being stretchered off and taken to the Cleveland Clinic in London, he underwent an operation on Wednesday to fix an atrial fibrillation.
Though doctors can’t explain why it happened, Lockyer has been given the all-clear and he was able to watch from his hospital bed as the Hatters won promotion to the Premier League, beating Coventry 6-5 on penalties.
Speaking to lutontown.co.uk, Lockyer said: “I had an atrial fibrillation, which is basically the top part of my heart was beating four times faster than it should have been. There’s not really any reason to say why that happened, but I’ve had the operation to fix it and it shouldn’t happen again.
“I’ve been given the all clear, it is what it is and I just want to draw a line under it now and move on.”
Luton’s history-making success was bittersweet for the centre-back as he missed out on the celebrations at Wembley, then back in Luton two days later, as 20,000 fans welcomed the Hatters home, and now as the rest of his team-mates are in Las Vegas.
The 28-year-old has been told to take it easy and he said: “The doctor’s orders now are two weeks’ rest without raising the heart rate, then I’m good to go, so it’s going to be a two-week holiday somewhere just chilling out, eating some good food and just taking everything in, because for me it hasn’t really sunk in what we’ve achieved, because I wasn’t there and I didn’t make the Vegas trip with all the lads.
“So now we can get away and hopefully it sinks in when we’re away. That’ll be really nice.”
After regaining consciousness, Lockyer revealed there were tears as soon as he realised his contribution to Luton’s big day would be cut short.
He said: “It was a weird one. I remember running backwards, and then I went really light-headed and my legs went really weak straightaway, as I was running back. I remember stumbling back and then all I remember was (physio) Chris Phillips over the top of me, and he was saying ‘Locks, you’re coming off’.
“I was like ‘No mate, no mate, I’m fine’, but he was saying ‘No, it’s serious Locks, you’ve collapsed. You’re coming off’. Then it dawned on me that I was on the floor and this is actually serious. It was then that, because I felt fine as soon as I woke up, I instantly just went ‘Oh no, this is the end of my game’ and had the feeling of letting the boys down. I just got really emotional. I couldn’t stop crying on the floor.
“They were doing whatever they were doing – and to be honest, even then at the time I felt that I could have got up and walked off, but the medics have to do their job and a massive shout out to them. They were, and have been fantastic. I can’t thank them all enough for what they did for me.
“It was probably a lot worse for everyone else watching than it was for me because as soon as I came back round I was fine. I never really felt in any danger, and it definitely wasn’t as bad as it looked.”
A now viral photo posted to Twitter by his dad after the final, showed Lockyer celebrating promotion from his hospital bed, to ease concerns among players, staff and fans.
“It was a day of mixed emotions,” he said. “It was crazy. All week I’d been visualising walking up those steps to that trophy and to end it in a hospital bed is not quite what I had in mind, but I was immensely proud to lead the lads out at Wembley – more so than I am normally because of the occasion and it was a massive honour for me and my family. That’s probably my only pic of the day, leading the lads out!
“I’m just really thankful that the lads were able to get the job done and we were able to complete our goal of getting promoted. It made those five days in hospital after a lot easier. I think if we had lost, those five days would have been horrendous, but they made it a lot smoother for me.”
He added: “I was in the medical room at Wembley, under the stadium, and I couldn’t stop crying in there but it was funny, because it was like a communal room and they kept wheeling in drunk fans next to me!
“We were in there and didn’t hear a cheer or anything, then all I heard was someone shout, ‘Tell him we’re 1-0 up, Jordan Clark!’ So then I was over the moon with that, and couldn’t stop celebrating and smiling.
“Then (secretary) Chris Clark came down then and got my phone for me, so I started watching it on Sky Go and carried on in the ambulance. We got to the hospital for extra-time, and my old man decided for those penalties then to take the photo of the winning penalty and post it out to let everyone know I was all right, so that’s a nice moment we’ve got all together now, that photo.”
